“We’ll get a few nice moments between Stefan and Caroline,” Candice King tells TVLine of the hellish holiday episode. She also confirms that the couple is standing under mistletoe in those first-look photos from last week. (There was some debate over the nature of the shrubbery.) King adds, “It’s nice to have — within the chaos — that good old holiday romance, if you will, that you want for these characters.”

Speaking of “Steroline,” King says she had a funny reaction to the couple’s engagement at the top of Season 8:

“Part of me was like, ‘Already?’ But then I was like, ‘We’re eight years in. This is the last season. It’s all happening!’ Along the way, we heard so many things that would eventually happen, so it’s crazy to be on the other side of ‘eventually.’ These are the storylines now leading up to the end.”

As for how Elena (aka Sleeping Beauty) might react to the news of her best friend and ex-boyfriend’s engagement?

“I think she’d need a stiff drink — and then a tall coffee,” King says with a laugh. “It’s a lot of stuff. That would be a funny shot of her reading and reacting to all the journals everyone’s been writing for years.”

Your hopes for the final Vampire Diaries of 2016? Drop ’em in a comment below, then check back later tonight for our recap.